Archive for March, 2010

It has been nine years since I made this doublet for Novie’s Captain Lattimer character at Scarborough Renaissance Festival. When it was new, the corduroy was deep black and soft with fine-waled nap. Now, the colour is more grey than black, and although there is some texture to the weave itself, the shaved, fuzzy nap of the corduroy is completely worn away. The costume itself looks worn enough, now, that it’s not just distressed, it’s beneath his station. That’s the bad news. The good news is that none of my stitches have let go, none of my seams are torn, and he still proudly wears the darned thing! And, that pride and confidence in me, has brought him back to me for his replacement ensemble. I met with him tonight for measurements and took some photos of the old piece so the new one can be as similar as possible.

Nine years. A long time. Or, the blink of an eye.
Either way … long enough to justify a new costume!

It was my hope to remember to take a photo while at the faire site today.
Not only did I not do that. But, we were so exhausted at the end of our second long workday in a row, that I didn’t remember to take a photo at all.

My photo is of a pile of purple guimp trim, some of which will be used on the outfit I make for the queen. It is lovely, but it makes me sad that I am having to use this photo as my photo of the day.

We spent a wonderful, if exhausting day at Scarborough today, doing the necessary make-ready work that remained at East Wind Games, and some of what was needed at Pendragon. The day was beautiful, the site is greening up and looking inviting, the improvements we’re making to our shoppes are incredible … and yet I forgot to take a photo. Sigh.

This is a quick shot of Glenda’s completed skirts as they hang in my workshop while I work on her bodice. By the time I go to bed tonight, I will have her bodice finished enough for lacing and final fitting tomorrow at the faire site.

I am happy to report that there has not yet been an “all-nighter” in my work schedule! And, that won’t happen tonight, either … hopefully I can keep that record!

I cannot recall now, in what year I made these fancy breeches for Dan. But, I am proud to say that what is certain is that he loves them. His new outfit will include breeches of the same basic design, but in totally different fabrics. He so wants the new ones to be like the old ones, that he loaned me the old ones so I could “pattern” from them. I hope he will love the second pair just as much.

Since Dan needs his old garb back so he can be in compliance with his own costume rules for the performing company, I took a few photos of his old pants so I would have them for reference. Next week is the week I will concentrate on making his outfit come together.

I need to take a quick moment here and apologize. I wish to apologize to our readers, of which there are a great many spread across numerous generations, states & even countries. I need to apologize to myself, because I have truly let myself down. I most need, however, to apologize to my wife. She & I undertook the Daily KRuMB as a mutual, loving task that we would care for and nourish. I have abandoned that task and I have no excuses – only apologies.
I am a month behind in my posting. In that interim there are many days in which the photos I took got corrupted or, in some cases, I simply forgot.
I will, over the next day or two, put up a lot of photos with very, very little writing. In most cases, the post will consist of the date taken, the exif and, if I have time, whatever song I’m listening to. As time allows, Marita Beth or I will go back & try and fill in details. But, for the time-being, I feel it more important to get the photos up.
So, once again, please accept my apologies & my pledge to do better.
Cheers.

I am writing this post much earlier in the day than I normally do. When I’m on a regular daily writing schedule, I tend to do my writing at night. That way, I can tell the day’s story while it’s completely fresh in my head. But, I am currently in the process of reading Jeff Smith’s Bone graphic novel from start to finish. So, my bedtime slot for writing and Facebook play is otherwise committed these days, and mornings are my computer time.

For those not familiar with Bone, let me first say, “I’m so sorry! Let’s fix that!” I strongly believe that this is one of the best comic books/graphic novels to come along in a very, very long time. And, I’m not alone. The book and it’s creator are critically acclaimed, award-winning and best-selling. When Jeff first started Bone, Kyle and I and Ronnie were heavily involved in the industry, and were very excited to have a new book we could support that wasn’t aimed primarily at boys and men, and super hero fanatics, yet would appeal to them, too. This book is for everybody. In fact, for a long time, our library and our guest room were one and the same, and Bone became bedside reading for almost everyone who stayed with us. We have Bone magnets on the refrigerator, framed limited edition art in the living room, and an amazing Jeff Smith coloured sketch in our prized sketch book. Unfortunately, the wonderful story line that Jeff was telling lasted longer than our little chain of comic book stores, and when Kyle and I left the stores, and they later closed, we stopped regularly buying comics and never finished purchasing or reading the Bone story. At one point, we planned to collect all the graphic novels as the story was collected, but we failed at that, too, and they quickly became collectible and out of our price range. Some time ago, the complete story, start to finish was published in one impressively thick yet reasonably-priced volume, and I plan to buy my own copy as soon as our financially-handicapped winter season is well and truly behind us. In the meantime, I’m borrowing Ronnie’s copy and gifting myself with a few minutes (okay … sometimes it’s an hour) to spend with Thorn (sexy girl) and Gran’ma Ben (faster than a speeding cow!) and Ted the Bug (“Hi! I’m Ted. I’m a bug!”) and Fone Bone and his cousins from Boneville, each night before I turn out the light. I’m about halfway through it, now, and loving every page.

My photo today is of the bottom of the skirt I’m making for Glenda. The primary fabric is that coppery silk I posted a photo of yesterday. It’s lovely, but it’s the many layers of trim and crystal jewels and beads at the hem of the skirt that really make the skirt special. I’m very pleased with how it’s turning out. Today, I’ll finish the overskirt and underskirt, and hopefully make some good progress on the bodice, as well. It remains to be seen if I will make it to the Pub Guys recording session, tonight … gotta sew!

This is a photo of the pretty copper silk that Glenda chose to be the primary fabric of her new ensemble. I took a photo a week or so ago of the gorgeous underskirt fabric. Before I can finish the trimming of the underskirt, I need to build the overskirt and get that trim all designed, so I can see how it’s all coming together. So, that was today’s project. By the time I go to bed tonight, the overskirt should be almost done.

I worked all day, despite the beautiful weather. In fact, I didn’t even get out to walk the pups. I did finally take a break for dinner, though. Kat really wanted to go to No Frills with us tonight, so that was the plan, and I got the wonderful late afternoon surprise that Stephen and Ed would be joining us, too! It was a fun night of food and friends and trivia. Oh … and a little beer. 😉